We so often speak of freedom as a rebellious act of frustration. A battle against the powerful seeking to control and manipulate.

It’s easy to fall into this trap.

We witness the experience of pain and suffering, and this hardens our hearts. We see injustice around every corner and question the good in this world.

I see it too. I feel the hurt and distrust. Often this uncertainty has hung over me and darkened my thoughts. It has pulled me so low that I questioned my ability to come up on the other side.

But I did. Every time I choose to change, to grow and forgive, I find lightness and the freedom I desire. Self-reflection and responsibility of choice propel me forward with a strength and determination that blows past the limits I fear.

As Rollo May so wisely stated, freedom “is the power to mold and create ourselves.”

Freedom is then an act of self-awareness. It is the choosing of self and taking responsibility for one’s existence.

Self-awareness becomes the act of rebellion.

There are an overwhelming number of things in our lives that create a sense of powerlessness. Our jobs, relationships, struggle with money, physical appearance, health and many other limiting structures, all contribute to our understanding of the world as against us.

What if rather than resisting what is, or throwing our hands up in the air in frustration, we choose responsibility instead?

What if we found the inner strength of growth, expansion and emerging potential that we know exists within us, and embrace this as the freedom that we desire?

There will always be forces outside of us that pull at our self-determination and cause us to question our worth. Struggles and frustrations will find us and weaken our resolve. Seeming failures in our lives will stop or redirect us on the paths we choose.

Every time this happens, every time we are disheartened and weakened by the limits we come up against, we can choose freedom.

Through the eye of the observer, the self that is aware, we can see the bigger picture. We can pull back from our victim mentality, and find our own space of freedom that exists when the self chooses to exist without limit.

With the blinders pulled off, our freedom is absolute. No longer a force outside of us, or one to be achieved through aggressive action, freedom becomes a daily habit.

Every day that we consciously choose to create ourselves, and live according to our personal desires, we are choosing freedom. We are building our self-awareness, and expanding into our limitless potential.

The practice of freedom is not for the faint of heart. It requires vulnerability, openness, and a relentless pursuit of evolution. It means not always choosing the path of least resistance, but the path of transformation.

The discomfort of the unknown is welcomed by the freedom-seeker. Rather than turning back when no answer is in sight, a trust is offered — trust in the emerging self and knowledge that the answers will come. Because they always do.

The emerging self becomes the only purpose worth pursuing. Limitations from past experience dissolve, and are replaced by possibility. Choices in life are not absolute, but another stepping stone on our journey of expansion.

And so I invite you, and remind myself, to choose freedom. To release all blame, and to take responsibility for every thought, for every action, for every reaction, and to create the most incredible life you can imagine!